Every one was anxious to invest in real estate and become
rich by an advance in prices. Capital was attracted into this
speculation by the prospect of large gains, and so great was the
demand for money that there was a remarkable advance in the rates of
interest. In the West, where the speculative fever was at its highest,
the common rates of interest were from 2 to 5 per cent. a month.
Everything was apparently in the most prosperous condition, real
estate going up steadily, the demand for money constant, and its
manufacture by the banks progressing successfully, when the failure
of the "Ohio Life and Trust Company," came, August 24, 1857, like
a thunderbolt from a clear sky. This was followed by the portentous
mutterings of a terrible coming storm. One by one small banks in
Illinois, Ohio, and everywhere throughout the West and South went
down. September 25-26 the banks of Philadelphia suspended payment, and
thus wrecked hundreds of banks in Pennsylvania, Maryland and adjoining
States. October 13-14, after a terrible run on them by thousands of
depositors, the banks of New York suspended payment. October 14 all
the banks of Massachusetts went down, followed by a general wreckage
of credit throughout New England. The distress which followed
these calamities was very great, tens of thousands of workmen being
unemployed for months. The New York banks resumed payment again
December 12, and were soon followed by the banks in other cities. The
darkest period of the crisis now seemed past, although there was
much heart rending suffering among the poor during the winter which
followed.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213